Wolf Head - Carved in Cottonwood Bark

Here is another “first” for my carvings. I had never tried carving Cottonwood Bark, but had seen and admired many beautiful pieces that had been done by other carvers, so when one of our club members offered to do a workshop, I was in!!The lady giving the workshop is a wonderful instructor, Found-Wood Artist Anna Bradley (Profiled in Carving Magazine, Issue 28), and she included not only the carving guidance, but also the colouring and dry-brush techniques.Here’s my Wolf (it’s actually my wife’s Wolf now), but I must admit that there was another “carver” who worked on it before I got the piece of bark. As I was doing the rough-out stage, I came across the bore hole (photos 2 and 3) from an occupant that had left his mark. I could have filled in the hole, but decided to leave the insect’s carving as it was. Oddly enough, there was no evidence of the tunnel anywhere on the exterior, and the tunnel was empty. ??I did find that the bark is easy to carve, but you MUST have well honed tools if you want to prevent tearout in this fibrous material. The chance of breakage from the existing checks was also an interesting point to deal with, so I left the tips of the ears attached to the overhang (photo 5) until all of the area behind the head was done, then I separated and finished the ears (photo 6). This was a really enjoyable workshop.

Thank you all for the kind comments.WayneC – Try looking for the stumps of Cottonwood trees that have been cut. Most of the time, the bark is still there, and removing it will not do any further harm. Of course, you might have some LJ members contacting you for pieces . . . ;-)

I will have to make it one of my first items when I take a trip out (currently dealing with a broken leg). It is too bad I did not know about this sooner. About 3 years ago the guy across the street took a big cottonwood tree down.

peteg – You just reminded me that I did miss a bit of information. To get the “wet” look for the eyes and the nose, I used a coat of clear nail polish over the final colours.WayneC – Ok, that explains your comment about the wheelchair in one of your blogs. Hope that you’re all healed and back to normal real soon.Jorge and prompt – Glad you like it. It was a lot of fun to learn about the Cottonwood carving.